Texas court rules taking 'upskirt' pictures as an essential component of freedom of speech

A court in Texas has upheld the constitutional right of the citizens to take "upskirt" pictures as an essential component of freedom of speech. While criticising an anti-"creepshot" law as a "paternalistic" intrusion on a person's right to be aroused, the court appeals struck down part of the state's "improper photography or visual recording" statute which banned photographing, broadcasting or transmitting a visual image of another person without the other's consent and with the intention to "arouse or gratify … sexual desire", the Guardian reported.

The case stemmed from the arrest of a man in his early 50s named Ronald Thompson who was stopped in 2011 at Sea World in San Antonio after parents reported him swimming with and taking pictures of children aged 3-11. The local district attorney's office said that he tried to delete the photographs before his camera was seized and a police examination of it revealed 73 images of children in swimsuits "with most of the photographs targeting the children's breast and buttocks areas".